Observation/Reflection #5 - How Do We Stop This Thing?
Observe how and when your teacher closes his or her lessons and/or activities. How does he or she end each class period? Is there a set routine? If so, describe it. Pay special attention to when you teacher begins to end the class. Does he or she return to the purpose or main idea of the lesson? Does he or she "set up" the homework or the next day's activity? Is the teacher still teaching when the bell rings or are students already poised to leave? Is there some "dead time" at the end of the class period? If so, how much? How do students react to your teacher's closing strategies? Remember that these questions are a guide and that you don't have to answer each one. Be sure you reflect on your observations and describe how you will try to end your classes. What supports for these ideas might you include in your lesson plans?
Observations:
I visited both of my CTs yesterday and observed their how both closed their classes. I tried to find similarities and differences to their closing procedures.
Mr. A in his advanced biology (II) class (1.5 hrs) allowed great lattitude in his class which involved an experiment about aerobic respiration and fermentation. Throughout the class his main goal was to monitor the the individual team timekeepers in order to insure completion of the task. As he circulated the class making observations and dispensing advice he simply asked the group timekeeper if he thought that they were on time to complete the task. I asked Mr. A if the student teams were going to finish the experiment and get the required data. His response was that it was the student's responsibility to finish the experiment, not his. A few minutes before class ended he announced that it was time to wrap up and clean up. After cleaning up, the students, without prompting returned to their desks and Mr. A gave the students a review of his observations. He said " there seemed to be many more questions about the procedures of the lab than normal. I can only attribute those questions to a lack of preparedness on your part. You know that it is your responsibility to read the procedures ahead of time. You also know that your grade for the experiment will reflect whether or not you come prepared. it will show in your work." He then reminded them of the upcoming quiz and test in the next week or so. No mention was made of the experiment summary that was part of that class. There was about 2 minutes of dead time where the students talked quietly among themselves.
Mr. T in eight grade general science had the class in the school's computer Lab (50 min.). The class was expected to make a concept map of the chapter section that was just completed. He told the class at the beginning of the class that since they already were experienced at creating concept maps that everything should go smoothly, but if anybody had questions, they could ask him or myself for help. He then gave explicit directions on which program was to be utilized and specific instructions on how to arrange their data. He also explained to them that the map that they were creating could be brought to class next week and used when taking the test next week. Every 5 minutes Mr. T reminded the class how much time was left. He and I circulated the class and provided detailed support to some and praise to others. When their was 5 minutes left to class Mr. T announced that in 3 Minutes they were to stop their work, save their document, and then print a copy of their work, which is exactly what occurred 3 minutes later after Mr. T reminded them. He then distributed their copies and told them that they could make handwritten additions or changes to their map and bring it to use during the test. He then reminded them to put their maps into their folders, clean, pack up and get ready to leave by lining up near the door. The bell rung as they were lining up.
Reflections:
Your audience determines the level of control that is placed upon them. These two classes were opposite ends of the spectrum as far as level of control concerning closing time for the class. Giving the middle schoolers 2 minutes to interact freely at end of class might at the least raise the decibel level of the class noise. The age and corresponding maturity level of your students must be kept in mind when ending the class. I think that the middle school class class ending needs structure and control. Specific reminders of what is expected to occur in the next class would help. For sanity's sake, controlling the noise level produced by the students seems to be an ongoing practice for middleschool teachers. It can be a major distraction for teacher and student alike. I noticed that the high schoolers were not specifically reminded of the next class requirements. This respected the maturity level of the students and allowed them to take responsibility of their own success. Even though there were two ways to monitor and end the class, there was the same result. A controlled and orderly transition to the next class. I realize that this difference in how a class ends is related to maturity level. A class of similarly aged highschoolers taking Biology 1 might not be given the same latitude as the advanced class. The difference is that the students chose to take the advanced class and want to be there, and their are many in the biology 1 class who do not particularly want to be there. The biology 1 class might include some of the middleschool procedures in order to insure compliance and participation.
Class Topic: Science
Grade:8 and 11/12
Observed by: Lionel Tessier
Observation/Reflection #5 - How Do We Stop This Thing?
Observe how and when your teacher closes his or her lessons and/or activities. How does he or she end each class period? Is there a set routine? If so, describe it. Pay special attention to when you teacher begins to end the class. Does he or she return to the purpose or main idea of the lesson? Does he or she "set up" the homework or the next day's activity? Is the teacher still teaching when the bell rings or are students already poised to leave? Is there some "dead time" at the end of the class period? If so, how much? How do students react to your teacher's closing strategies? Remember that these questions are a guide and that you don't have to answer each one. Be sure you reflect on your observations and describe how you will try to end your classes. What supports for these ideas might you include in your lesson plans?Observations:
I visited both of my CTs yesterday and observed their how both closed their classes. I tried to find similarities and differences to their closing procedures.Mr. A in his advanced biology (II) class (1.5 hrs) allowed great lattitude in his class which involved an experiment about aerobic respiration and fermentation. Throughout the class his main goal was to monitor the the individual team timekeepers in order to insure completion of the task. As he circulated the class making observations and dispensing advice he simply asked the group timekeeper if he thought that they were on time to complete the task. I asked Mr. A if the student teams were going to finish the experiment and get the required data. His response was that it was the student's responsibility to finish the experiment, not his. A few minutes before class ended he announced that it was time to wrap up and clean up. After cleaning up, the students, without prompting returned to their desks and Mr. A gave the students a review of his observations. He said " there seemed to be many more questions about the procedures of the lab than normal. I can only attribute those questions to a lack of preparedness on your part. You know that it is your responsibility to read the procedures ahead of time. You also know that your grade for the experiment will reflect whether or not you come prepared. it will show in your work." He then reminded them of the upcoming quiz and test in the next week or so. No mention was made of the experiment summary that was part of that class. There was about 2 minutes of dead time where the students talked quietly among themselves.
Mr. T in eight grade general science had the class in the school's computer Lab (50 min.). The class was expected to make a concept map of the chapter section that was just completed. He told the class at the beginning of the class that since they already were experienced at creating concept maps that everything should go smoothly, but if anybody had questions, they could ask him or myself for help. He then gave explicit directions on which program was to be utilized and specific instructions on how to arrange their data. He also explained to them that the map that they were creating could be brought to class next week and used when taking the test next week. Every 5 minutes Mr. T reminded the class how much time was left. He and I circulated the class and provided detailed support to some and praise to others. When their was 5 minutes left to class Mr. T announced that in 3 Minutes they were to stop their work, save their document, and then print a copy of their work, which is exactly what occurred 3 minutes later after Mr. T reminded them. He then distributed their copies and told them that they could make handwritten additions or changes to their map and bring it to use during the test. He then reminded them to put their maps into their folders, clean, pack up and get ready to leave by lining up near the door. The bell rung as they were lining up.
Reflections:
Your audience determines the level of control that is placed upon them. These two classes were opposite ends of the spectrum as far as level of control concerning closing time for the class. Giving the middle schoolers 2 minutes to interact freely at end of class might at the least raise the decibel level of the class noise. The age and corresponding maturity level of your students must be kept in mind when ending the class. I think that the middle school class class ending needs structure and control. Specific reminders of what is expected to occur in the next class would help. For sanity's sake, controlling the noise level produced by the students seems to be an ongoing practice for middleschool teachers. It can be a major distraction for teacher and student alike. I noticed that the high schoolers were not specifically reminded of the next class requirements. This respected the maturity level of the students and allowed them to take responsibility of their own success. Even though there were two ways to monitor and end the class, there was the same result. A controlled and orderly transition to the next class. I realize that this difference in how a class ends is related to maturity level. A class of similarly aged highschoolers taking Biology 1 might not be given the same latitude as the advanced class. The difference is that the students chose to take the advanced class and want to be there, and their are many in the biology 1 class who do not particularly want to be there. The biology 1 class might include some of the middleschool procedures in order to insure compliance and participation.Class Topic: Science
Grade:8 and 11/12
Observed by: Lionel Tessier